London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as Trump announces 25% auto tariffs
London stocks were set to fall at the open on Thursday following a downbeat session in the US, after Donald Trump announced a new 25% tariff on all imported cars.
The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 35 points.
Danske Bank said: "The tariffs will go into effect on 2 April as part of a series of other tariffs set to be implemented on ‘Liberation Day’.
"The announcement has already faced criticism, including from the EU and Canada, which will take measures to protect their interests."
In corporate news, Drax said it has agreed a 20-year joint venture agreement with Power Minerals to build a facility to process pulverised fuel ash into material which can be sold to the construction industry and used in the production of cement with a lower carbon footprint.
The project could generate incremental adjusted core earnings of £5m a year for Drax post 2027 through to 2046, the company said.
AJ Bell said it has agreed to sell its Platinum SIPP and SSAS business - AJ Bell Platinum - to InvestAcc for up to £25m.
AJ Bell Platinum has 3,600 customers with £3.2bn of assets under administration which will transfer to InvestAcc on completion. This is expected occur in the second half of the year.
In the year ended 30 September 2024, AJ Bell Platinum contributed £10m to non-platform revenue. The company said the sale does not impact its FY25 guidance.
LondonMetric Property has agreed to acquire Highcroft Investments in an all-share deal valuing Highcroft at £43.8m.
This represents a 40.4% premium to its latest share price.
Highcroft shareholders would receive 4.65 new LondonMetric shares for each Highcroft share and would retain both Highcroft’s recently declared 35p interim dividend and LondonMetric’s upcoming quarterly dividend.